Tag: religion

Overcoming the Fear of Writing

Why it Took Me So Long to Write Believe Again

The Story Within the Story

It took eight years to write Believe Again: Finding Faith After Losing Religion. You see, I type very slowly. I’m just kidding. It’s because I am not a very good writer. Also, kidding. At least, I hope that’s not true. I have been writing and sharing stories since high school. So, why did it take so long to get this into your hands?

This book shares intimate and often embarrassing moments in my life. Just the process of revealing these details is enough to cause almost anyone to pause and reflect before pressing send. The struggle to believe enough in myself to write this book is the story within the story. 

Am I Crazy?

Multiple times, I have had to Believe Again that I could finish this project and that it matters. First, I had to convince myself I was not crazy to write these experiences down. Then, I had to overcome the insecurity of feeling I was not good enough to write publicly. This involved dealing with thoughts like, Who am I to think people would want to read what I write? Is my story even interesting to begin with? After that came the fear of people misunderstanding me and my intentions. 

Once I cleared those hurdles, something else began to happen. I grew spiritually, emotionally, and as a writer. Through this, I would review each current draft and think, “I have to change this. I don’t even write or think like this anymore.” During this time, God transformed my perspective on the situations I share in this book. What I thought was important was not. Other parts needed more emphasis than I realized at first. This story is so personal to me. I knew time would have to pass for my perspective to mature. This all led to more rewrites. Many times, I wondered out loud, “Will this ever get to a place where I could say it is finished?”

The Shadows of Fear

My circumstances have told me that I am not a writer every day since I began, well, writing. There has continuously been something else I was always supposed to be or do. But when I closed my eyes at night and opened them again in the morning, I knew something different. I am a writer. The question was, would I pass the test, believe again, and take another step? Or would I hide from what was in my heart? If anything, that is the lesson of this book. Believing again is not a grand gesture. It is a commitment to take one step at a time towards what God has put in your heart. To do this, you also have to have the courage to move away from the shadows where fear allows you to hide.

I hope Believe Again will help you let go of every substitute and find authentic faith. By the time you are finished reading it, I want you to realize that who you are in Christ is more important than where you are in life. This is crucial in our journey to living out an enjoyable, meaningful Christianity.

Believe Again: Finding Faith After Losing Religion will be released on October 4 on Amazon. In the meantime, you can pre-order it at joshroberie.com/shop at a 20% discount. You can find out more about the book and get Believe Again merch at BelieveAgain.net.

Are You a Pharisee? Surviving Religious Burnout Part 2

How to Get Off The Spiritual Treadmill

My new mini-book, Surviving Religious Burnout, Launches Tuesday, August 4. You can pre-order it now on Amazon, Kindle, Apple Books, and Barnes and Noble. I wanted to give you a preview so here is an excerpt from Chapter 1.

Video Version

For the next few weeks I will be posting a video version of my blogs. Going to try this format out to see how you like it. So below is basically this same blog in video form. Let me know what you think. Should I keep doing this?

Have You Eve Met a Pharisee?

“I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.”

Eric Liddell, Chariots of Fire

The Religious Rut

Have you ever met someone who is proud to be a modern-day Pharisee? Probably not. Most well-meaning believers are unaware they have slipped into a religious rut that resembles legalism. Their good works look like a thriving faith, but the roots are different. Without making a change, those stuck in this Christian performance trap will see their excitement replaced with exhaustion.

The Spiritual Treadmill

You can only run on this spiritual treadmill for so long before you realize you are going nowhere. The frustration of always moving but never arriving is enough to cause anyone to become discouraged and give up. 

Ask any of the millions of joggers in the world, and they will tell you running is not just meant to be work. Running should refresh you as you experience unexplored placed and familiar ones in a new way.

It is the same with your faith. Christianity is not an exercise in discipline. It should be an enjoyable, meaningful experience. 

It Is Not About Good Works

The Christian life should produce good works. It is not about good works. It is about knowing God and making Him known. Your good deeds are only sustainable when they come from an overflow of your love relationship with Jesus. When your position in Christ comes before your performance for Christ you are on your way to a refreshing life as a believer.

That is the point of this book. I want to help you get out of your spiritual rut and into an enjoyable, meaningful Christianity. To do this, we will have to dig up the roots of burnout. After that, we will plant seeds of truth that will lead to a flourishing faith.

What is Religious Burnout?

Religious burnout is a cycle of gaining your worth and security as a believer from what you do for God, instead of who you are in Christ. Some people may call it legalism. Others refer to it as being a Pharisee. I see it as a pit any of us can fall into on the path of good intentions.

A Christian performance trap will wear you out. It will ask more from you than God does. In return, it causes you to become judgmental and never feel content as a believer. True holiness is rooted in your connection to God, not your commitment to rules or your religious performance. Following rules may change your appearance, but only a love relationship with Jesus can transform your heart.

We all want to get the most out of our relationship with God. That is why you need to escape the Christian performance trap and take part in true high-performance Christianity. 

So what do you think? I would love to hear from you about this topic as well as if you think I should keep doing youtube videos on my posts.

I would love it if you cheked out my new mini-book on Amazon, Kindle, Apple Books, and Barnes and Noble. It helps tremendously if you leave a review. After reading this post you definitely qualify as a reviewer!

Surviving Religious Burnout Part 1

Are You Being A Christian or Doing Christianity?

My newest mini-book, Surviving Religious Burnout, launches Tuesday, August 4. You can pre-order now on Amazon, Kindle, Apple Books, and Barnes and Noble Nook.

Why I Wrote This Book

I realized over the years a certain theme developed in my writing. Out of that, a mission emerged. I want to help people discover an enjoyable, meaningful Christianity through sharing God’s truth in a refreshing vulnerable way. This book is an expression of that idea.

Working on Being

There is a difference between doing Christianity and being a Christian. Let me explain.

I became a follower of Christ at a young age. I loved going to church, reading the bible, and sharing my faith. As I grew older, so did my boldness and excitement about Jesus. 

My “doer mentality” motivated me to accomplish many good things. It also made it hard to find security in being a Christian without working towards a spiritual goal. Resting, relaxing, and enjoying being a child of God were foreign to me. 

Repeated Burnout

This approach to Christianity caused me to burnout repeatedly. I was always happy to do more than others up to the point I was no longer able to do anything at all. 

Burnout is not typically a symptom of a half-hearted Christian. It takes a committed follower of Christ to perform good works to the point of exhaustion. This is who I want to help with this book.

I hope Surviving Religious Burnout helps you find a more enjoyable, meaningful Christianity.

Reflection:

What do you think causes religious burnout?

Is burnout a sign you do not love God enough or are there other contributing factors?

How do you avoid burnout?

What do you do to get out of burnout once you realized your feeling exhausted in the are of your spiritual life?

I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment or give your answer to these questions on social media when you share this post!

Check out this preview on Amazon:

A Little Something Extra

Letting Go So That You Can Receive More

Have you ever felt like you were putting too much pressure on yourself or felt bad for not doing more in the area of your faith? Your Christianity should be refreshing not exhausting.  This wasn’t always the case for me.

A Little Something Extra

In Louisiana you often hear the word “Lagniappe” being used. It means “a little something extra.” It’s something that can bring a smile to any cajun’s face as he or she expects to receive an extra piece of boudin or another scoop of jambalaya for dinner. When you get something more than you expected, you are experiencing “lagniappe.”

I used to be good at lagniappe, but not in a good way. I would always try to do a little more than everyone else. Not at work or in school, but in my faith. I would try to outperform – add a little lagniappe to my Christianity. One of the most regrettable examples of this was the first time I almost asked out Amy on a date.

When A Good Thing Becomes a Bad Thing

When we were in college, Amy and I were part of the same young adult ministry. Every year around Christmas time there was a banquet where we would dress up and ask out dates. It was something everyone looked forward to. I knew I wanted to ask Amy, but before I did, I committed myself to filling two rows (about 30 seats) with people I had invited to our monthly youth service.

While I was out trying to build my miniature ministry empire, someone else asked Amy as his date. She said yes, and I was crushed.

Here I was, trying to bring more people to church, and yet God was going to allow someone else to steal my date. Things didn’t seem fair. I was doing more, but getting less. A few days later I filled my rows but my heart was empty. Ok, that is a little dramatic. I filled my rows, but I was still without a date for the banquet. The lesson here is that a good thing can become a bad thing when it is done out of religious duty instead of relationship and joy. Your faith in Jesus should lift burdens from your life not add them.

Receiving God’s More

There are many things God wants to give us that a religious perspective will tell us we do not deserve and cannot have. This type of thinking will have us settling for less than God’s best and cause us to push our dreams off to the side.

God is not in Heaven holding good things back from us because of our lack of perfection. Out of His perfection He wants to give us good things that we couldn’t achieve or don’t deserve on our own. Religion says we have to wait until we are good enough to step up or step out. Grace helps us realize that we will never be good enough anyway. We will always need to rely on God and trust Him.

Lagniappe is supposed to be a good thing. We should enjoy the little something extra that God wants to give us instead of putting up barriers in-between us and what God has called us to do. Many times these are simply just excuses that allow us to avoid the fear of failure or rejection that we will have to face to do anything meaningful for God.

What would you do if you couldn’t fail?

What is God asking you to do?

What areas are you being confined by fear instead of led by faith?

If you would like to explore this topic more check out this book: